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Chechen hard man in appeal for his lost cat

Tom Parfitt, Moscow

May 21 2016, 12:01am, The Times

Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, is asking for help in finding his catMikhail Metzel/Getty Images

He is a pitiless strongman who rules his Russian republic with an iron fist. Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, is known for his menagerie and likes to exude machismo by tussling with the larger of his beasts.

Now the 39-year-old autocrat has issued a softer message — pleading for help to find his lost pussycat. “Our cat has disappeared without trace,” he wrote on his popular Instagram account. “Guests always said that it looks a lot like a little tiger cub.”

The post was accompanied by a picture of Mr Kadyrov cradling the animal in his arms. “It disappeared about ten days ago,” he said, adding: “Now we [have] started to get seriously worried. Maybe it’s with someone not far away. A person might…

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